MPH/MPA Requirements

The program can be completed in two years, although students can extend the program over a longer period of time. All degree requirements must be met within a five-year period. Find a sample two-year schedule here.

Required Full-Credit Courses (7)

Epidemiology (PHP 2120 or PHP 2150)

Management and Implementation in Public and Non-Profit Organizations (MPA 2160)

If students have taken the equivalent of a core course, he/she may request to take an upper level course in that area as a substitute. The program directors will review these requests with input with the relevant course instructors. As future changes are made in the core requirements of individual degree programs, appropriate changes will be made in the joint program.

Concentration Courses (5)

Concentrations must be declared in the spring semester of year 1. Students choose one of the following concentrations in which to take 5 courses. Details for each concentration can be found MPH website or by clicking the links below.

Biostatistics

Environmental Health

Epidemiology

Generalist

Global Health

Health Behavior

Health Services

Maternal and Child Health

Elective (1)

Master's Level Thesis

Thesis projects may be descriptive research, investigative research, public health policy development and assessment, or a program evaluation. The thesis must have an analytic component, which may be qualitative or quantitative. A standard thesis will have three components, including:

A publishable paper of superior quality (or a policy analysis, ten to twenty pages in length, with recommendations related to the topic of the publishable quality paper)

A 10-20 page literature review documenting the relevant research studies relevant to the topic of the publishable quality paper

Appendices, which may include supporting materials, such as a survey instrument. If completed by the student, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) proposal for the research project and all supporting materials, as well as documented IRB approval to complete the study should be included in the appendix.

First year: Choose your thesis advisor and submit proposal by April 17

The development of the thesis should reflect the guidance of the student’s advisors. The thesis constitutes significant effort often requiring several semesters. Students must choose their thesis advisor and reader and submit the thesis proposal by April 17 of their first year (Appendix A). Students whose thesis projects require review and approval by the Brown Institutional Review Board (IRB) will require several additional months of preparation before they can begin data collection. By April 17 of the first year, the thesis project should be well conceptualized and designed and have received approval from the thesis advisor, reader, and the program directors. Once the thesis project and the thesis advisor and reader are approved by program directors, it is the responsibility of the thesis advisor and thesis reader to determine when the thesis project has been satisfactorily completed.

Year of graduation: Progress report signed by the thesis advisor due by January 15; final thesis due March 1

Students are advised to allow sufficient time to make corrections and prepare the thesis for submission to the Graduate School. This should include developing a timeline with the thesis advisor and reader to be sure that they have sufficient time to read the thesis, return comments (multiple times) and sign the approval form prior to the deadline. Students are advised to meet with their thesis advisor and reader on a regular basis. It is important to plan a meeting schedule with the thesis advisor throughout the development of the thesis. Students must submit a progress report signed by their thesis advisor by January 15 for graduation in that year. The advisor should indicate whether or not the student has made adequate progress toward completion of the thesis and if the student will be able to complete the thesis in a timely manner prior to graduation.

The final thesis (with the signatures of the thesis advisor and reader) is due March 1 of the year of graduation. Upon submission of the completed thesis, each student’s thesis advisor will verify which thesis competencies the student has achieved.

Global Policy Experience

Students in the joint MPH-MPA program are required to participate in the Global Policy Experience. The two-week global policy experience (GPE) is an essential ingredient of the Brown program. Students use the experience as a case study to learn about the problems different communities face (i.e. health, transportation, development, etc.) and how policymakers identify and implement solutions to address these challenges.

After a rigorous core course sequence that focuses on the theoretical framework of policy studies, students apply what they have learned and explore how public policy is formulated and implemented in an international setting. Teams will travel to an sites such as Berlin, Brazil, or Cambodia to work with local policy makers to examine policy making from a comparative perspective.